Chris VandeVelde | Center

Latest News

Recent News

Chris VandeVelde scored his ninth goal of the season on Saturday.

VandeVelde scored only once last season in 46 games so his nine goals in 56 games this season is a vast improvement. He has 15 points this season so unless you are in a very, very, very deep league, he should not be on your team. Mar 8 - 9:55 AM

Chris VandeVelde scored for the Flyers in their 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes in Carolina Friday night.

It was VandeVelde's second goal of the season. The center made it 2-1 in the third period at 8:45 after wing Vinny Lecavalier did most of the work setting it up. Defenseman Mark Streit sent an outlet pass to Lecavalier, who weaved his way through the Carolina defense and set up Vandevelde with a drop pass at the left point. Vandevelde took a snap shot that beat Carolina goalie Cam Ward over his glove. Jan 2 - 9:59 PM

Chris VandeVelde is dealing with a lower-body injury.

VandeVelde is projected to be a game-time decision on Friday as a result. He has a goal and four assists in 27 contests in 2014-15. Jan 2 - 9:58 AM

Chris VandeVelde scored for the Flyers in their 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes in Carolina Friday night.

It was VandeVelde's second goal of the season. The center made it 2-1 in the third period at 8:45 after wing Vinny Lecavalier did most of the work setting it up. Defenseman Mark Streit sent an outlet pass to Lecavalier, who weaved his way through the Carolina defense and set up Vandevelde with a drop pass at the left point. Vandevelde took a snap shot that beat Carolina goalie Cam Ward over his glove.

Chris VandeVelde is expected to play alongside Vincent Lecavalier and R.J. Umberger on Saturday.

The Flyers briefly experimented with putting VandeVelde on the top line to fill in for the injured Michael Raffl, but that experiment didn't even last a full game. VandeVelde is still playing with two talented forwards though, so he's worth keeping on your radar.

The Flyers needed to move someone to the first line because Michael Raffl sustained a lower-body injury that will sideline him for the next six weeks, but it's surprising that VandeVelde is the one who was selected for that role. The 27-year-old has played in just 54 games and isn't even an offensive standout at the AHL level. This situation is worth keeping an eye on, but we can't recommend picking up VandeVelde in standard leagues yet.

Chris VandeVelde has agreed to a one-year, two-way deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.

VandeVelde will come with a $575,000 annual cap hit at the NHL level. He had an assist in 18 games with Philadelphia in 2013-14. He turned 27 in March and should be regarded as an organizational depth forward.

Depth Charts

Claude Giroux scored twice for the Flyers, who came up short in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Oilers on Saturday night.

The Flyers captain has goals in back-to-back games and points in three games in a row. His 21 goals seem low, mostly due to the fact he has a 8.2 percent shooting percentage. Michael Raffl and Ryan White notched the other goals. Jakub Voracek tallied three helpers.

Philadelphia center Ryan White had a goal and assisted on another in the Flyers' 5-2 loss to the Devils in New Jersey Sunday.

In 19 games this season, White has three goals and five assists. Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers, who never led this game. Raffl's goal came while the Flyers were shorthanded at 11:44 of the third period. It was his 16th goal of the season.

VandeVelde scored only once last season in 46 games so his nine goals in 56 games this season is a vast improvement. He has 15 points this season so unless you are in a very, very, very deep league, he should not be on your team.

Cousins was credited with a shot on goal and a hit. "Fast game out there tonight and he looked like he had the pace for it," Flyers coach Craig Berube said of Cousins. "Competitive guy. Strong on the puck. He played a real solid game." Cousins has 21 goals and 55 points in 60 AHL games this season.

Flyers coach Craig Berube has a simple reason for why he hasn't given Vincent Lecavalier a lot of playing time this season.

"He just hasn't produced and he gets power-play time, too," Berube said. "He hasn't produced." Lecavalier has just seven goals and 18 points in 51 contests this season. At the same time he's been limited to 12:47 minutes per contest, so the fact that his production is down isn't surprising. At any rate, Lecavalier needs a change of scenery, but we doubt he'll get one given his cap hit and the fact that he won't be an unrestricted free agent until 2018.

Matt Read recorded two assists in a 4-1 win against Chicago on Wednesday.

Read has seven goals and 29 points in 73 contests in 2014-15. His best season offensively remains his 2011-2012 rookie campaign (47 points). He'll turn 29 in June and we don't expect him to be worth drafting in standard fantasy leagues for the 2015-16 campaign.

Zac Rinaldo will be scratched against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.

Due to both a suspension and multiple scratches Rinaldo has seen just nine games in 2015, but has been an effective fantasy goon in that time with 55 PIMs and 40 hits. For the season, he has 92 PIMs and 140 hits in just 40 games.

R.J. Umberger will undergo surgery on his hip and abdominal muscles and miss the rest of the season.

Well, at least we now know why Umberger was laboring and had not scored in his last 18 games. He had nine goals this season with six assists. "I think the biggest thing that’s bothered me is just that I feel like I’ve let Ron Hextall down," Umberger said on Tuesday. "He believed in me, bringing me here, and I feel I haven’t been the player he needs." He will get a chance to redeem himself next season.

Jakub Voracek might become the first Philadelphia Flyers player to win the Art Ross Trophy.

Eric Lindros came the closest with 70 points in 1995. That was enough to tie Jaromir Jagr at the top of the scoring race, but Lindros loss the Art Ross Trophy because he had fewer goals. This time around Voracek is three points behind Sidney Crosby in the scoring race. Voracek has 21 goals and 76 points in 76 games.

Wayne Simmonds fractured his left leg in the Flyers 4-1 win over Chicago on Wednesday and will be out for the rest of the season.

The Flyers official website broke the news that he and Andrew MacDonald were going to be out for the remainder of the season. Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia later reported that Simmonds fractured his left leg while McDonald has a fractured right hand. Simmonds' 28 goals leads the Flyers as does his 14 power-play goals, which also ranks third overall in the NHL. He also has 22 assists for a total of 50 points, having appeared in all 75 games for the Flyers this season.

Raffl tipped in a nice slap pass from Claude Giroux for the Flyers' only score on the evening. With 17 goals in his second year in the NHL, Raffl is an interesting dynasty prospect to look at. He was playing with Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux tonight which makes him relevant in the fantasy world right now. His 17 goals in 57 games is a very nice jump from nine in 68 games in his rookie season last year.

Andrew MacDonald is out for the rest of the season after fracturing his right hand in 4-1 win over Chicago on Wednesday.

It was first reported as a upper-body injury but Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia reported that it was a fractured right hand. MacDonald has appeared in 58 of 75 games for the Flyers, recording two goals and 10 assists for 12 points while averaging exactly 20 minutes of ice-time per-game.

Michael Del Zotto played 30:18 in Saturday's 3-2 shootout loss to San Jose.

The Flyers were in big trouble as Mark Streit and Carlo Colaiacovo were out with the flu and Luke Schenn and Andrew MacDonald were out with injuries so Del Zotto picked up a lot of the slack. Rookie Brandon Manning played 25:07 while the Flyers called up a couple of rookies in Mark Alt and Oliver Lauridsen to fill out the blueline.

Radko Gudas (knee) isn't expected to return before the end of the 2014-15 campaign.

Gudas was acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday as part of the Braydon Coburn trade. He's a physical, defensive defenseman that's also capable of chipping in offensively and should be a significant part of Philadelphia's blueline next season.

Manning will help fill the void left by Andrew MacDonald, who will miss the rest of the season with a hand injury. Manning has 43 points and 150 penalty minutes in 58 AHL contests in 2014-15. The 24-year-old defenseman is worth keeping an eye on as he might have some fantasy value for what little is left of the season.

Chris Pronger has officially joined the NHL's department of player safety.

We've long since known that Pronger's players days are unfortunately over. He will continue to get paid by the Flyers, as per his contract, despite the fact that he will also be working for the league.

Ray Emery yielded five goals on 34 shots in the Flyers’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Oilers on Saturday night.

Called upon at the last minute with Steve Mason ill at the start, Emery allowed a goal 51 seconds into the game, and three in the first period. He offers very little upside, even considering his role as a backup. Emery has a 3.08 goals-against average and .894 save percentage.